Greater London · Ductwork cleaning
Maida Vale ductwork cleaning
Ductwork cleaning across Maida Vale and nearby, timed so the site keeps working and signed off in writing with photos.
- A duct clean needed for an insurer
- Smells of old cooking grease from the ductwork
- Thick crusts of old grease along the duct
Common questions in Maida Vale
Can school kitchens in Maida Vale be cleaned in the holidays?
Yes. The holidays are the usual time for school work. There are about 90 schools, colleges and universities on the FSA’s food hygiene register within about 1.5 miles of Maida Vale. You can call 0345 646 2711 or email us with the dates the site is empty.
Is parking a problem for work in Maida Vale?
We plan it in advance, so let us know about loading bays, permits and access rules at the building. Much of our London work is done overnight, which helps.
What happens if you cannot reach some of it?
Anything we cannot reach goes on the report, with a note of where it is, and we explain what access is needed, for example new access panels.
How do you keep the site clean during the work?
By covering it before any work starts. The work is kept contained and clean down when we finish.
How is kitchen extract ductwork cleaned?
We get into the duct through its access panels. Heavy grease is scraped out by hand, then the surfaces are degreased with a method that suits the deposit, such as degreasers, hot water or steam.
How long does ductwork cleaning take?
It depends on the length of the duct, the number of access panels and how much grease there is. As a guide, it takes a shift or more, depending on the length of the runs and the number of access points.
Is Maida Vale in your area?
Yes. We work across Greater London, Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex, Maida Vale included.
When is the ductwork cleaned?
We plan the clean when you are not cooking. Most kitchens book overnight or weekend cleans, so no service is lost.
About our ductwork cleaning in Maida Vale
Not every duct has enough access panels. TR19 calls for any section we couldn’t reach to be recorded, and we can fit new access panels so it’s cleaned next time. It’s better to know than to assume. The work covers horizontal duct runs, bends and junctions and attenuators, and the jobs we see most are ductwork that has never been cleaned and grease seeping out of the duct seams.
In a London area like Maida Vale, a kitchen extract often passes through shared space on its way out: a riser, a service void, the floors above. A duct fire there can reach parts of the building far from the range, which is why keeping it clean to TR19® matters.
Accreditations are easy to claim and worth checking. We are a BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease, and we hold CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001, and we are fully insured.
- Where
- Maida Vale (W9, NW8, NW6)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Reporting
- TR19® certificate and photo report
- Quote
- A fixed quote up front
- Working hours
- After hours by arrangement; emergencies any time
- Call
- 0345 646 2711
- Page updated
- 30 October 2026
What staff can safely do
Away from the kitchen, the in-house job is mainly checking: clear grilles, a log of filter changes and reporting anything odd. The inside of ducts and units needs a specialist.
A few tasks are always specialist work: entering ducts, working on fans, testing dampers and taking grease readings need training, the right equipment and safe access. That is our job.
What ductwork cleaning looks like in Maida Vale
Food Standards Agency data counts about 1,079 cafés, restaurants and staff canteens and about 146 sandwich bars and takeaways within roughly a mile and a half of the centre of Maida Vale. Where they cook under a canopy, grease doesn’t stop at the filters: it settles along the duct and up the riser. Overnight is the normal time to clean a London kitchen extract, so trading isn’t affected. Environmental health officers from Westminster council inspect food businesses in Maida Vale. An officer looking round a kitchen will see the canopy, and grease there is hard to miss. Our report lists what was cleaned and when, which is useful to have ready.
Volunteers running a hall kitchen near St Peter Elgin Avenue, or anywhere in Maida Vale, may not know when the extract was last cleaned, and a grease test settles it. For schools such as Essendine Primary School, kitchen extract cleaning is typically booked for the holidays, when the canteen is closed.
Maida Vale is about 2 miles south of Hampstead, in Greater London. We provide ductwork cleaning for businesses, landlords and public buildings in Maida Vale and the rest of Greater London. We cover 764 places across Greater London, large and small.
We cover every part of W9, NW8 and NW6 for ductwork cleaning and the roads nearby. You’ll find streets such as The Lane, Hall Road and Hill Road, all of which we cover for ductwork cleaning. Maida Vale is on the A404, so it’s easy for us to get to for ductwork cleaning. Other places close to Maida Vale include Westbourne Green (1 mile south), Little Venice (1 mile south-east), Paddington Green (1 mile south-east), Westbourne (1 mile south) and St John's Wood (1 mile north-east). Further out, we also cover London (5 miles south-east), St Pancras (3 miles east), Shoreditch (5 miles east), Walthamstow (8 miles north-east), Hoxton (5 miles east) and Whitechapel (5 miles east).
Local landmarks in Maida Vale
Locally, jobs take us to businesses close to Emslie Horniman's Pleasance, Paddington Academy and The Warrington pub. Nearby too are Cecil Sharp House (1.9 miles north-east) and Maida Vale School (within half a mile west). The nearest railway station is Kilburn High Road station, roughly 0.7 miles north. A little further out are Montfichet's Tower (3.9 miles east) and O2 Centre (1.5 miles north). Not far away are Greville Place nature reserve and The Long Water.
Between visits
Here’s the after-treatment advice, short and simple:
- Never cook with a filter missing
- Flag drips from the duct right away
- Store the certificate with the fire risk assessment
- Ask for a grease thickness test if the kitchen gets busier
When the duct is cleaned as part of a full TR19® Grease clean, a TR19 certificate is issued through the BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite portal. It records the date, the location and the technician.
Book the next duct clean before the date passes. If the kitchen starts cooking longer hours, the interval may need to shorten, and grease thickness testing will show it.
How it works
We start by comparing what we find with the survey or your pictures. Anything unexpected is raised with you before we go further. After that, the work takes a shift or more, depending on the length of the runs and the number of access points. If your building in Maida Vale has sign-in rules, permits or key holders, mention them when you book.
- We trace the duct and find every way in.
- Grease thickness is measured at set points.
- Once the kitchen has closed, we protect the area and open the panels.
- Heavy deposits come out by hand, then each section is degreased.
- Panels are closed, readings and pictures repeated, and unreachable sections recorded.
Before we arrive
- Agree a time when the area can be out of use
- Mention any locked doors, roof access or ceiling voids
- Find the previous report, if there is one
How to get a quote
There’s no standard price list, because no two systems are the same. We look at your system first, from photos or on a visit, then send a fixed quote. To get going, call us on 0345 646 2711, or send details by email.
Related advice
What affects the quote in Maida Vale
Before we fix a price, we need to know a few things. We look at:
- Site rules, permits and inductions
- When the work can happen, such as evenings, overnight or weekends
- Whether it’s a one-off visit or part of a schedule
- Whether several sites go on one quote
One small site or a whole estate, the quote is built the same way: what needs doing, how we get to it and when. The price is fixed before any work starts.
What we need to know
A few details help us quote accurately. With your enquiry, please include:
- Any symptoms, from odd noises to smells or leaks
- Close-ups of filters, grilles, hatches or access panels
- Where the site is and what kind of site it is
- Your last certificate, test record or report
Some systems can be priced from photos; others need a survey. Big or complicated sites, and systems that are hard to see in pictures, get a survey first. Either way, you get a fixed price before any work starts.
Towns and villages near Maida Vale
More services for Maida Vale
Landlords, agents and facilities managers
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person must assess and reduce fire risk, which may be the employer, owner, landlord, FM or managing agent. With shared responsibility, good records help everyone.
Facilities teams in offices, schools and healthcare sites book us too in Maida Vale and across Greater London. Work can be phased by floor, building or site to keep disruption down.
Do you need ductwork cleaning in Maida Vale?
Air cools as it moves away from the canopy. As it cools, the grease it carries condenses onto the duct walls, so duct runs keep collecting grease long after the canopy.
It’s time to book a visit if you see:
- Duct runs with no cleaning record
- Readings above 200 microns from a grease thickness test
- Thick deposits at the bottom of a vertical duct
- Stale grease odours from the duct
If you run catering at a healthcare site, such as a hospital like Maida Vale Hospital for Nervous Diseases about less than half a mile east, the extract may need cleaning more often than a part-time kitchen.
What to look for in a quote
- Whether the price is fixed
- Whether VAT is included
- How areas they can’t reach will be recorded
- Whether the quote is based on a survey or photos
Different parts, different methods
Multi-storey and shared buildings
Ducts in taller or shared buildings often run past other occupiers. We plan access with you and the building manager, so the clean is done safely and quietly.
Bends and transitions
Grease tends to pile up at elbows. It’s scraped out and degreased, and test it before and after.